The South Korean low-cost airline Jin Air has equipped the overhead bins of its 22 Boeing 737-800/-900 aircraft with mirrors. These are not intended to help passengers style themselves better during the flight, but rather to speed up the stowage of hand luggage.
Last year, the carrier evaluated the fleet's maintenance costs and found that an extraordinary amount of money was being spent on replacing seat covers and generally repairing armchairs. We looked into this fact in more detail and came to the conclusion that the reason is that many travelers think that there is no space in the overhead bins and place their hand luggage on the seats.
According to Jin Air, this practice is questionable in terms of flight safety and they are declaring war on it. The attached mirrors are intended to make it easier for passengers to see that there is still enough storage space available in the overhead compartment opposite, for example. But it should also have advantages for the flight attendants, because the carrier hopes that problematic items that should be better stowed under the seat in front can be identified more quickly during passages.
Initially, the 22 aircraft in the Boeing 737 series were equipped with overhead bin mirrors. But it shouldn't stay that way, because four B777s will also be retrofitted accordingly. In this regard, the Komy company was commissioned to carry out the relevant work in November 2023. The two Boeing 737-Max-8s will also be retrofitted at a later date.